Smelter&#39;s crucible-shaker.



No. 650,648. vPmnm May 29, I900.

w. s. MATHER.

SMELTERS CRUCIBLE SHAKER.

(Application filed Jan. 20, 1900,) 7 (No Model.) 2 Shets8heet l WITNESSES:

INVENTORQ M W fi /fl w, BY

"no; 650,648. Patented" May 29,1900. w. s. MATHER.

SMELTERS GBUCIBLE SHAKERv (Application filed Jan. 20, 1900. I (No Model.) 2 Shuts-Sheet 2.

WITNESSES: |NVENTOR:

I ATTORNEYS THE Nanms PEYEHS ca. PHOYO-LYTHQ, WASFHNGTON, s

UNITED STATES PATENT Brion.

WILLIAM s. MATHER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SMELTERS CRUCIBLE-SHAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 650,648, dated May 29, 1900. Application filed January 20, 1900. Serial No. 2,100. (No model.)

To ztZZ whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM S. MATHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New ark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Smelters Crucible-Shakers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide a shaking device for properly settling the contents of a hot crucible in the process of recharging crucibles according to my improved method of smelting crucible-steel as set forth in my contemporaneous application Serial No. 2,102, to thus enable the crucibles to be properly filled even when too hot to be handled or even closely approached by the hand, and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved smelters crucible-shaker herein described and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

' Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several Views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my shaker in its preferred form as applied to a crucible, and Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section of a portion of the shaking-lever; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the base-plate, the crucible and shakingdever being shown in outline. Fig. 5 illustrates a modified form sometimes preferred. Fig. 6 shows in side elevation a construction in which the base-plate is dispensed with and two levers employed; and Fig. 7 is a section of the same on line as, Fig. 6. Fig. 8 shows amodification of construction, and Fig. 9 is a plan view of the lever in said modification of construction.

=Insaid drawings, ct indicates a blackelead crucible or melting-pot, such as is commonly used in smelting crucible-steel, said crucible holding about one hundred pounds, more or less, of metal.

While the metal, which is cut into small pieces to charge the crucible, is being poured into said crucible it is necessary to shake the crucible from side to side-in order to compactly settle the contents and obtain the maximum capacity of the crucible. In the old method of filling the crucible cold this shaking was readily done by taking hold of the pot with the hands; but in my improved method of recharging, above referred to, it becomes necessary to shake the crucible while it is at a cherry-red heat or far too hot to be closely approached, and for this purpose I employ the mechanical shaker forming the subject of this application.

In the preferredform of construction, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, 1) indicates a base plate or stand upon which the crucible a is stood, upright pins or blocks 1) projecting from the said plate around the bottom of the crucible to prevent said crucible from slipping or walking about during the shaking operations. Obviously a raised flange, a recess, or any other equivalent means of .holding the bottom of the crucible may be used equally well. At one side of saidbaseplate is a central extension 0, bent upward,

so that its end lies in a vertical position, the said end being rolled or returned upon itself, as at c, to form a transverse eye or bearing for a horizontal pin d. The said extension 0 is slotted from its point of leaving the plate a to its extreme end in line with a diameter of the circle inclosed by the'pins b, and the said pivotal pin dextends transversely across said slot d. The said pivotal pin dserves to receive the lower forked end f of a shakinglever f, which in the preferred construction of my invention extends upward substan-' 5 tially parallel to the crucible a in general'direction and to such a height beyond as to be conveniently grasped by a Workman without stooping, being shaped for that purpose into a handle f at the upper end. At a point slightly below the top of the crucible a when the lever is in operative position said lever carries a horizontally-disposed ring g, riveted or otherwise firmly secured at an outer point ble is set upon the base-plate b and the shaking-lever f, which was removed to allow the last-filled crucible to be taken away,is then replaced, with the ring 9 coming down over the top of the crucible and the lower forked end f of the lever straddling the. pinds,

With the parts in this position one workman pours a charge of cold metal into the crucible by means of my improved pan, which 7 forms the subject of a contemporaneous application, while a second man operates the shakingdever by swinging it back andforth upon the pin 01 as a fulcrum, and thus violently agitates the crucible to settle its con tents compactly together. The ring g is not necessarily made a complete circle, but may be in the segmental form h, (shown in Figs. 8 and 9,) if desired,

where the arms h h bend sufficiently to hold the crucible from escaping; and,again, I may sometimes place a complete ring g close to the top of the crucible and widen it sufficiently, so that its upper edge projects above the top of the crucible, as shown in Fig. 5,

the object of this construction being-to pre-' vent any of the contents of a full or nearly full crucible being jolted out as the crucible is shaken, and thus to enable the crucible to be filled full.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown a modified construction in which two levers 't' t are employed, said levers being arranged at diametrically-opposite points of the ring 9, and

said ring having pivotal pins j passing loosely through said levers instead of being riveted thereto, as in the previously-described construction. I also prefer to-form said pins j oval in cross-section and have them lie in similarly-shaped but somewhat larger perforations in the levers. This permits enough looseness for the shaking operations and pre vents the ring 9 from swinging into a vertical position, so that it will not slip over the top of the crucible when the shaking-levers are applied. In Figs. 6 and 7, also, I have shown the base-plate as dispensed with and thelower ends of the levers reduced to the projects from the ring it in the same plane therewith, said lever in operative position lying horizontally in the slot Z.

Various other modifications and'variationsmay be made in the detail construction of cible near its top, substantially as set forth.

2. The improved crucible-shaker, herein described, comprising a support for the crucible having a-receptacle for the lower end of said crucible inwhich the said crucible is seated and prevented from slipping under the shaking operation, and means for grasping the crucible and shaking the same, substantially as set forth. 7

3. In a' smelters crucible-shaker, the combination with a supporting-surface uponwhich the crucible may stand, of alever ful crumed upon said supporting-surface, and a ring connected to said lever and adapted to surround the top of the crucible, substantially as set forth. a

4. A smelters crucible-shaker, comprising a base-plate upon which the crucible stands,- means for holding the crucible against-sliding'on said plate and a lever fulcrumed upon said plate and having means for grasping the crucible near its top,substantially-as set forth.

5. The improved crucible-shaker herein described, comprising a support having a receptacle for the-bottom-of the pot or crucible, means for grasping the crucibleand means extending away from the grasping means whereby said grasping means and the pot are reciprocally shaken to effect a settling ofthe scrap within said crucible, substantially as set forth.

6.v A smelters crucible shaker, comprising a supporting-plate adapted to receive the bottom of the crucible, means preventing lateral displacement of the crucible, a leverhaving a fulcrum upon said plate, and a ring connected to said lever and adapted to surround the top of the crucible, substantially as set forth.

'7. In a smelters crucible-shaker, the combination of a base-plate receiving the bottom of the crucible, means preventing the crucible from slipping on the base-plate,said plate having an upward extension at one side, and a lever removably fulcrumed upon said upward extension of the baseplate and having means for engaging the top of the crucible, substantially as set forth.

8. In a smelters crucible-shaker,the combination of a base-plate providing a seat for the crucible,a series of projections upon said baseplate surrounding the crucible, a lever removably fulcrumed at its lower end upon said base-plate and extending upward eubstan= straddle said pin, and a ring secured to said lever and slipping over the top of the crucible when the lever is seated upon its ful- I 5 crumal pin, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of December, 1899.

\VILLIAM S. MATHER.

Vitnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, RUSSELL M. EVERETT. 

